our ESL students should have 50 minutes per day of pull out, with the rest
of the day spent in the regular classroom, mainstreamed.

On 10/30/09, Jenny wrote:
> Our school used to "pull out" our middle school students for anywhere from
> 2-5 periods a day. It was a nightmare. We were not allowing to give the
> kids a decent exposure to reality and the culture of a mainstream
> classroom...which is where they would eventually end up, so we felt they
> were missing out. Their world was skewed. Last year, at semester time, we
> began to push kids into classes. I just called it "mainstreaming" the
> kids. For the kids, the learning curve was high. The teachers were scared
> that the blank looks on the kids' faces meant there was no comprehension at
> all. We assured them that immersion was the fastest way for the kids to
> attain the language. It worked: the first girl we mainstreamed passed the
> writing portion of the state assessment. Now we mainstream all our kids.
> They have "ELL" class once a day, but in addition to learning English, we
> layer what the mainstream teachers are doing in their classes. My job is
> chaotic because of that portion, but it's awesome to have them explain to
> me what order of operations means from their math class or how to write a
> correct response to a short answer question from their English class.
> Maybe our model is not true push-in because I have them for one class a
> day. They are NOT being robbed of any mainstream instruction, however.
> They are in my class during their elective. At the G.L.A.D. training I
> attended last summer, the first thing they told us was how ineffective
> pull-out is for ELL students.
>
> On 10/29/09, lbp wrote:
>> I am also fighting the push-in philosophy at my school. Everyone in
>> our area was so gungho on it for a while, but I couldn't see how it
>> would possible work at my school. Unfortunatley what ended up saving
>> me from push-in was they cut the ESL teacher position down to
>> halftime. I have other licensures, so I am still full time, but I now
>> only have half the day to accomplish what I used to have all day to do.
>> Needless to say this effectively ended push-in except for a few
>> diehards who keep pushing for it.
>>
>> Trying to decide where to push in would be a nightmare, I have six
>> grades and only three periods. I also have quite a few new arrivals
>> which speak absolutley no English at all. Sheduling would be a
>> nightmare, not to mention trying to schedule common prep times with
>> all those teachers and I don't see this working with out at least some
>> common prep time.
>>

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